JONAH RUNS AWAY

1 NOW the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
4 But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?
9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.
10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.
12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.
14 Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.
15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.
17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights

1Now the word of the Lord came vnto Ionah the sonne of Amittai, saying,

2Arise, goe to Nineueh that great citie, and cry against it: for their wickednes is come vp before me.

3But Ionah rose vp to flee vnto Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord, and went downe to Ioppa, and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he payed the fare thereof, and went downe into it, to goe with them vnto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

4 But the Lord sent out a great winde into the sea, and there was a mightie tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

5Then the Mariners were afraid, and cried euery man vnto his god, and cast foorth the wares that were in the ship, into the sea, to lighten it of them: but Ionah was gone downe into the sides of the ship, and hee lay, and was fast asleepe.

6So the shipmaster came to him, and said vnto him; What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call vpon thy God, if so be that God wil thinke vpon vs, that we perish not.

7And they said euery one to his fellow; Come, and let vs cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this euil is vpon vs. So they cast lots, and the lot fell vpon Ionah.

8Then said they vnto him, Tel vs, we pray thee, for whose cause this euill is vpon vs: What is thine occupation? and whence commest thou? What is thy countrey? and of what people art thou?

9And hee said vnto them, I am an Hebrew, and I feare the Lord the God of heauen, which hath made the sea, and the dry land.

10Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and saide vnto him; Why hast thou done this? (for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.)

11 Then said they vnto him, What shall we doe vnto thee, that the sea may be calme vnto vs? (for the sea wrought and was tempestuous.)

12And he said vnto them, Take me vp, and cast mee foorth into the sea; so shall the sea be calme vnto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is vpon you.

13Neuerthelesse the men rowed hard to bring it to the land, but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.

14Wherefore they cried vnto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, We beseech thee, let vs not perish for this mans life, and lay not vpon vs, innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.

15So they tooke vp Ionah, and cast him foorth into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging.

16Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice vnto the Lord, and made vowes.

17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow vp Ionah, and Ionah was in the belly of the fish three dayes, and three nights.

I == 2nd Kings 14:25 ; Matt 12:39

II == Gen 10:11-12 ; 18:20-21 ; Ezra 9:6 : John 3:2-3 ; 4:11 ; James 5:4 ; Rev 18:5

III == Gen 4:16 ; Josh 19:46 ; 2nd Chr 2:16 ; Job 1:12 ; 2:7 ; John 4:2 ; Acts 9:36

 

IV == Ps 107:25

 

V == 1st Sam 24:3 ; Acts 27:18-19 , 38 :

 

 

 

VI == Ps 107:28 ; Joel 2:14

 

 

VII == Josh 7:14 , 16 ; 1st Sam 10:20-21 ; 14:41-42 ; Prov 16:33 ; Acts 1:26

VIII == Josh 7:19 ; 1st Sam 14:43

 

 

IX == Ps 146:6 ; Acts 17:24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XII == John 11:50

 

 

XIII == Prov 21:30

 

XIV == Deut 21:8 ; Ps 115:3

 

 

 

XV == Ps 89:9 ; Luke 8:24

XVI == Mark 4:41 ; Acts 5:11

 

XVII == Matt 12:40 ; 16:4 ; Luke 11:30

1 This is the word of the LORD that came to Jonah, son of Amittai:

2 "Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it; their wickedness has come up before me."

3 But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish away from the LORD. He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and went aboard to journey with them to Tarshish, away from the LORD.

4 The LORD, however, hurled a violent wind upon the sea, and in the furious tempest that arose the ship was on the point of breaking up.

5 Then the mariners became frightened and each one cried to his god. To lighten the ship for themselves, they threw its cargo into the sea. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship, and lay there fast asleep.

6 The captain came to him and said, "What are you doing asleep? Rise up, call upon your God! Perhaps God will be mindful of us so that we may not perish."

7 Then they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots to find out on whose account we have met with this misfortune." So they cast lots, and thus singled out Jonah.

8 "Tell us," they said, "what is your business? Where do you come from? What is your country, and to what people do you belong?"

9 "I am a Hebrew," Jonah answered them; "I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."

10 Now the men were seized with great fear and said to him, "How could you do such a thing!" - They knew that he was fleeing from the LORD, because he had told them. - 

11 "What shall we do with you," they asked, "that the sea may quiet down for us?" For the sea was growing more and more turbulent.

12 Jonah said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea, that it may quiet down for you; since I know it is because of me that this violent storm has come upon you."

13 Still the men rowed hard to regain the land, but they could not, for the sea grew ever more turbulent.

14 Then they cried to the LORD: "We beseech you, O LORD, let us not perish for taking this man's life; do not charge us with shedding innocent blood, for you, LORD, have done as you saw fit."

15 Then they took Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea's raging abated.

16 Struck with great fear of the LORD, the men offered sacrifice and made vows to him.

Jonah 780-750 B.C. Jonah is one of the three old testament book hated by Satan, the other two being Genesis and Daniel.

Jonah can be interpretated in three basic ways. {1} MYTHOLOGICAL APPROACH: You look at Jonoh as you do Robinson Crusoe, or Hercules. {2} ALLEGORICAL APPROACH: Jonah is really Israel. The Sea is the Gentile nations in General, Fish if Bablyonian Captivity, Regurgitation is the return during Ezrz' time. {3} LITERAL-HISTORIEAL APPROACH: Accounts presents itself as actual history events.

As with the ark no one believes they could get that many animals in it, and with Jonah the sharks in the area would be bigger than busses.

v 1. Jonah’s name means dove. He lived at Gath-Hepher north of Nazareth in Galilee and prophesied to Jeroboam The Second that he would enlarge his borders, 2 Ki. 14:25. He was contemporary with Hosea and Amos. Jews may not have had respect for him going to Gentiles, and misstated, Jn. 7:52 that no prophet came out of Galilee. Some call him the first foreign missionary, but Elisha was much earlier, 2 Ki. 8:7. 

v 2.,3. God commanded him to preach at Ninevah, but rather than preach to those Gentiles, he ran from God and tried to flee to Tarshish. Notice His downward spiritual plunge: Down to Joppa; down into the ship; deep down inside the ship, v 5; down into the sea, v 15; down into the fish, 2:17; down to the bottoms of the mountains, 2:6.

v 4-6. God sent a wind and storm so bad that they threw out the cargo and called on their many gods for help. In contrast, insensitive to trouble, Jonah fell asleep. They woke him to call on his God, desperate for any help they could get.

v 7-9. The sailors cast lots, assuming one of them had displeased their god, and when it fell to Jonah, they wanted to know all about him. He answered freely that he was 1, a Hebrew; 2, God is the Lord; 3, He is the God of Heaven; 4, He is the creator.

v 10,11. They thought it incredible that he would disobey his God and cause this, but wanted to know what they could do to him because the storm was getting worse.

v 12. He was penitent for their sake and told them to throw him overboard. He might have asked to be returned toward Ninevah, but he’d still rather die than go there. 

v 13-16. They rowed hard for land, but finally, begging God’s mercy for killing a man, threw Jonah overboard. Immediately the sea was calm. That was proof that God controlled the seas, so they feared God, sacrificed and made vows to Him. God had a great fish specially prepared to swallow Jonah, and keep him in a way that he would not suffocate for a period of, not 72 hours, but for part of three days.

(Some believe he died and God brought him back to life.)